"Writing in notebooks" by photographer and author Thorsten Overgaard (not a word about Leica)

Free eBook: newsletter.overgaard.dk (Or use the code "50" on checkout from tinyurl.com/2p9fduy2 )
Books by Thorsten Overgaard ebooks.thorsten-overgaard.com
Meet Thorsten Overgaard: workshops.thorsten-overgaard.com
Buy "Made in Denmark" notebooks from thenotelibrary.com
(No affiliation or kick-back, just because I like the idea and want to support it.)
Leica Styles for Capture One and Adobe Lightroom: tinyurl.com/35asfrbs
To get them for free, use code: "LEICAOVERGAARD" for Lightroom presets and use code "LEICASTYLES" for Capture One Styles - then they are entirely free and you saved $48.00)
Chapters:
How does notebooks and paper fit in today's digital world? (1:21)
The Notebook Library, Aarhus, Denmark "Made in Denmark" (1:42)
thenotelibrary.com/collection...
The notebooks that I use - The system of keeping notes (3:39)
Montblanc notebooks 146 (3:40)
Montblanc Alexander Dumas fountain pen (4:11)
Leica Q2 digital camera (4:11)
LIFE Typewriting Paper "Made in Japan" (4:12)
Moleskine notebooks (4:41)
What to write in a notebook? (4:50)
Different notebooks for different types of writing (5:22)
Montblanc Notebook Indigo Lined 146 amzn.to/3bHqzJl (5:50)
Montblanc Notebook Petit Prince 146 (6:10)
Montblanc Notebook 146 Ferrari (6:33)
CHAPTER 1: Writing books and articles by hand in notebooks (7:36)
In your own univrerse (9:30)
Finish what you started - Write in chapters (9:50)
The decisive moment (10:28)
Usign your mind and abilities (10:50)
Get off social media and devices (12:10)
How to digitize notebooks into computer files (12:46)
Organizing chapters of books (13:29)
Barack Obama handwriting his book (13:50)
Reviewing written notes (14:15)
CHAPTER 2: Random notes and sketches in notebooks (14:21)
Scanner Pro for PDF and OCR scanning from smartphone (15:30)
"Everything has to go somewhere" (16:27)
CHAPTER 3: Wisdom and studies in notebooks (16:42)
CHAPTER 4: Numbe and statistics in notebooks (18:40)
Montblanc magnetic fineliner
The secrets of notebooks and writing (19:45)
Goyard notebooks (21:04)
Goyard pencil (21:31)
Salvatore Ferragamo notebooks (21:40)
Moleskine notebooks (22:23)
A3 notebooks of rsketches and projects (24:10)
CHAPTER 5: Writing instruments and fountian pens (28:20)
Montblanc Joseph II fountain pen (28:45)
Montblanc Meistrerstuck Solitaire Blue Hour fountain pen (29:20)
Montblanc Meistrerstuck Solitaire UNICEF fountain pen blue (29:35)
Montblanc Moctezuma I fountain pen (29:45)
Montblanc Meistrerstuck Ramses II fountain pen (30:10)
Steadtler LUMOCOLOR permanent (31:05)
Sakura Pigma Micron Pens (31:15)
Thorsten von Overgaard is a Danish/American writer and photographer, specializing in portrait photography and documentary photography, known for writings about photography and as an educator. You are always welcome to send an e-mail to Thorsten for questions, suggestions and ideas.
Thorsten Overgaard is an independent writer and photographer who write, teach workshops and publish user reports about the equipment he uses. There is no affiliation with Leica Camera AG, MontBlanc or The Note Library or any dealers, no free gifts, no sponsorship, no kickback and no paid content. All you see is real and based on the life of an eccentric and hard-working photographer who makes his own money, buys his own equipment and form his own independent opinions - and shares with you. Enjoy the ride.
Video Credits:
Produced by: Thorsten Overgaard (www.overgaard.dk)
Equipment:
This video was made with the Leica SL bhpho.to/3cIbPEg and Leica 35mm Summilux-L ASPH f/1.4 bhpho.to/2MEr0nn , using Sennheiser wireless microphones bhpho.to/2zafn4v . Leica SL2 as second camera.
#photography #notebooks #writing
Job no 2010-0822
0:00 Introduction
0:31 Making sense of using pen and paper in a digital age Thorsten Overgaard
3:38 The notebooks that I use and the system of keeping notes
7:35 A notebook to write books and articles
16:22 "Everything has to go somewhere" Thorsten Overgaard
16:40 Wisdom and Studies Things I learned from reading
19:39 1. One chapter at the time. 2. Finish what you start. 3. Leave disturbances away. 4. One notebook for each thing. 5. Each notebook it's own design.
28:18 Writing instruments Fountain pens

[@ImperfectPhotography]

I am delighted to find I am not alone with my addiction to pens and stationary! :-). Thanks, a very enjoyable video. Lots to think about wrt how to use my notebooks! 😉

[@ImperfectPhotography]

By the way have you looked at that great Norwegian invention, the #remarkable tablet? Great for stuff that needs to be digitised. I have had one for years and use it every day. I find it works really well sis by side with paper.

[@johntocho8954]

I really enjoyed this video. I am Moleskin guy. I have a BLUE Moleskin calendar with notes/to do/general tasks. Separate topic journals in the same BLUE Moleskin color and I use a SILVER Sharpie to label. Then RED Moleskin journals for photography (almost too obvious), again labeled with a SILVER Sharpie. Shades of blue ink from turquoise to blue-black... but after listening to you I have decided I could benefit from another color, so ORANGE it is. I love the range in orange, so very versatile. Thank you Thorsten, you are an inspiration!

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Orange is a good choice. My favorite color, and goes well with black.

[@JezLerman]

Anybody else here waiting with baited breath for Thorsten to send one of his Leica cameras accidentally flying off the table? Love the way he nonchalantly places them right at the table edge, thousands of dollars worth of glass and brass, waiting like ten-pin bowling skittles, to be pushed over. Talk about watching murder, mystery and suspense. Much better than Netflix...

[@SE-144]

This made my morning.. while I was drinking coffee. For some reason it brings such a simple joy and satisfaction for him to talk about notebooks and for me to be able to write in it. I will be buying some. This is so awesome! Thank you!.

[@fabricekerg2630]

Sharing the same addiction for mont blanc pens and handwriting in notebooks

[@HH-fr8xb]

Seeing your nice notebooks I’m getting a bit nostalgic. In my university town there was a many generations old book binder’s workshop with royal license, where you could have any kind of notebook and other related products custom made to your exact specifications, all hand crafted with traditional tools. You would have a vast array of papers and fabrics to choose from for the cover, the front and back sheet, to the actual writing paper. You could even have a coloured cut edge. All sorts of beautifully printed papers from Italy and other places with all sorts of patterns and colours. It wasn’t cheap, true, but I don’t think it was more than what you pay for a name brand notebook. Happy days, lovely culture! The shop is still there. Don’t know how they are doing know. Wish they can stay for generations to come.

[@davidadams007]

Thank you for sharing this. I'm a one note book guy but really enjoyed this thought process and explanation.

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you 🙂

[@Boatzerama]

Love notebooks, stationary and photography.

[@ralfferfi2860]

Thank you for sharing your notebook ideas! I started similar, but found out that I have never the right notebook with me. So I was copying my notes from one notebook to another one. And later to my laptop by using scanner pro. At the end the process leads to an dead end and I thought about starting something new. I started with an iPad but was not able to focus on my work, because all the time I thought, just check the mails, and then search for some more background infos, then watch an episode of Thorsten ;-) and so on…. The key thing here is discipline. Discipline if you are asking paper notes to organize them in time, as well as discipline to turn on flight mode and to not switch into any other application. Now I‘m doing everything with apple devices since 3 years. My Apple Watch can take audio notes even when I’m driving, and for my iPad with its pen I use the GoodNotes App with the very powerful handwriting recognition for building up a search index. There so also the possibility to add meta search words, to move notes, to insert empty sides, to have dozen of notebooks with you and so on…. The only beast you have to kill to achieve the writing flow is missing discipline… ;-) BTW, I’m also a fan of Montblanc pens and I would buy one instantly if there would be one for Apple devices. One last hint. There are special foils available which can give you a kind of feeling of writing on paper.

[@arthurford829]

Thank you! This is genius! I too enjoy writing in notebooks but just as you’ve mentioned, I’ve always tried to put everything in the same notebook and then have trouble finding things. I may not need four but I will certainly try using more than one. As a aside, I also collect pens and pencils from hotels.

[@p-the-v]

It is so pleasing to see that I am not the only one that enjoys, cameras, notebooks and fountain pens. You mentioned the different coloured inks but not which brands. I also collect those. My favourites are made in Japan by Iroshizuko. Finally I may have a few more watches (not Rolex) than I have wrists or days in a week to wear them. At least these are all relatively safe obsessions.

[@gregblackmon2]

Enjoyed this video. A bit different and appreciate the encouragement to go analog. My fountain pens have been resting of late. Inspired to clean and load them. Cheers.

[@heidecker]

Thorsten, thank you for sharing this. I am writting a lot at the computer, but like you I am always carrying at least one notebook with me. Writting on paper is keeping me much more deidcated to the subject, concentrated, focused - and from my gut feeling it helps me much more to keep the essence of what I am describing than if I would write it on my computer. I very much like your idea that tis is similar to working with a Leica M - it keeps you more focused (and - not always good - there is no excuse when your pic is crap…). I personally am a Molskine addict, but also like to sneek into paper stores and look at such items…great video! Was thinking I was the only remaining fossil on earth :-)

[@domjoch]

3:32 YEETT!!!!!

[@dodahlberg]

I just bought a softcover notebook from the Note Library. It cost almost as much to send it to the US as the price of the notebook but I'm going to justify it by replenishing the Swedish woods. :-) I have lived in a Moleskin datebook for 10 years but last year switched to a fountain pen from the mechanical pencil I was using. I like the idea of writing quotes; when my notebook arrives I'll assign it to quotes. I'm a reader and was doing what you were doing: posits and/or underlining with my mechanical pencil.

[@miltonbonani2952]

I'm big fan of notebooks and fountain pens too. Your photos are amazing. Congrats!

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you 🙂

[@amersek]

Yes, same obsessions! I also sign my photos with fountain pen. Instead of regular ink, i filled it with black pigment ink for printer, which also last for centuries...just an idea. :)

[@GrenvilleMelonseedSkiff496]

Brilliant … thanks for sharing this! PS: I’m still patiently waiting some six months now for my back-ordered Fujifilm X100V. In the mean time I can now dust off my fountain pens and notebooks and start writing and drawing again. Thanks for the inspiration! Also … as a follow up, you might consider a brief video about your pen maintenance routine. Nothing worse than having your favourite pen clog up just when you’re inspired to write something!

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you, great to hear. I never have any pens clog up, not even orange ink (though it is thicker). I use original Montblanc ink and never experiment with other inks. I think that is the secret. Thinking of it, there was one Montblanc ink a few years ago that clogged up three pens, so I sent it to them and they fixed it. I know my son tried other inks and had all sorts of problems, too thin and floating too easily, clogging up and so on. So I think, any brand of pen, use the original ink.

[@GrenvilleMelonseedSkiff496]

@@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard OK ... good info so thanks again. I probably have to be a little more diligent with the maintenance because I sometimes use archival waterproof ink for sketching/watercolour. I think inks that are only intended for writing don't have as much of an issue and for sure the higher quality pens and ink from Montblanc (I have one) will be more reliable. Tak Thorsten!

[@Justin-ik5ls]

I’ve used an application as well as notebooks this application I discovered recently and is it really good for putting down my ideas quickly. I’m not so good at writing by hand because I’m dyslexic so I use digital medium for writing one application that I can use is notion.It has a relatively high learning curve but once you get it set up it can be a dream to use

[@windynotes]

The inks for your fountain pens - favourite color, brand, etc

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

The Montblanc Beatles psychedelic purple #116250 is a favorite. The James Dean Rebel Red 118211 is a great red ink. They do other red inks, but this is the best. Floats well and looks great. The Montblanc Lucky Orange 114960 (limited edition ink from 2017) is the orange one I use, it tend to dry out around the nib and is like powder then. The great thing about the limited edition inks is hat you got them as long as supplies last, then you have to experiment with something else.

[@windynotes]

@@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard I don't have any Mont blanc pens (just can't afford them), but I buy their inks - mainly because I like the classic design of the 60ml ink bottles. I call it the "dachshund".

[@windynotes]

Btw, your watch collection next? 😁

[@hgl2002]

I’m compulsively into notebooks and pens with strong affinity for Hobonichi Techno Planner and Tomoe River paper, both for Japan. Japan has a long history making fine paper. The planner, for me, tends to become my place to record life’s daily events. My calendar is in Outlook so the daily pages are for memories of travel and what is going on in my life. - Really appreciate the content here.

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Hobonichi Techno Planner is exciting, didn't see that before 🙂

[@DP-wd6sl]

Leica, stack of notebooks, fountain pen and a coffee. What more does a thinking man need!

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

A good chair and a view ...

[@RS-Amsterdam]

Nice video, something different, and I can relate tot that. I changed fountain pens for jell pens to have a smooth and easy writing. Have dozens of them just incase they run out (sounds familiar hehehe) But please, next time , don't put those beautiful cameras so close to the edge of the table cause every time you explained something and was waving with your hands, my breathing stopped ! Anyways, thanks for sharing. O yeah before I forget, those shots you showed were beautiful. I really like you way of playing with DoF. Greetings from sunny Amsterdam

[@_Just_Some1]

Loved the video! As always…

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you 🙂

[@Caracalaba]

I watched until the end to see if he would throw the coffee and the leicas away. No, seriously, I end up watching all your videos no matter ehat topic and how long they are

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you for the kind words 🙂

[@SainathKrishnamurthy]

Great video as usual! What travel case/pouch do you use for your pens?

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

I have a Goyard pencil pouch in black, and the better half she has the one in Yellow. I also have pen holders in several of my bags, so four - six pens are in bags when I travel.

[@richarddenise3886]

Perfect!

[@webersteve1547]

We share the same passion for writing, I do it for decades. I still look for a way to integrate photos, but all possible solutions are to complicated.

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you. Don't know about integrating photos, I do that in any book I wrote, and any article I write (and in the videos like this one). But that is the publishing part. I finish photos like I finish writing, and it goes into the archive so it can be found and used when appropriate. Maybe not what you are looking for, but my workflow for photos is a whole subject in itself as you can see here: www.overgaard.dk/the-thorsten-overgaard-photography-lightroom-survival-kit-extension-course.html

[@jasonrkr]

What desk pad is that in your video? Sorry, if you mentioned it and I missed it. And really like those pens. Definite grail collection for me. Thank you. :-)

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

It's one I make myself, the "Always Wear A Camera" desk blotter: www.overgaard.dk/Thorsten-von-Overgaard-Gallery-Store-Always-Wear-a-Camera-desk-blotters-of-calfskin-leather-as-writing-pads-and-mouse-pads.html

[@NSEW_Mag]

such a great video, as usual... I'm always looking for good paper for my 149... quick question- what watch are you wearing in this video? thanks!

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you. The watch is Skov Andersen (made in Denmark/Switzerland) aboutvintage.com/collections/chronograph-watches/products/1815-chronograph-steel-blue-sunray-special-edition

[@1MichaelGilroy]

Wonderful video Thorsten, have you tried LEUCHTTURM1917 notebooks? Lovely paper and perfect for fountain pens.

[@ofeykalakar1]

Their “Whitelines” notebooks allow for easy digitizing. Either in single pages or multiple collated pdf files.

[@abchappell01]

Wonderful presentation 😊 Do you think that you will consider writing with an iPad Pro, or possibly one of the new Remarkable writing devices?

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

I've had/have Remarkable and iPad, and I usually never write on them. The Remarkable I was attracted to as it said it's like paper. But it found it to feel like writing with a plastic nib on plastic. I gave it to my son to use, and he loves it for sketches and all (doing engineering stuff and building designs). iPad i generally buy, hate, give away. Then buy one later again, hate it and give it away. It's a very tempting device, but not very productive in real life. And now with alerts, phone calls, requests for update ... and it needs charging.

[@doogaltx]

Interesting, do you have to prep the fountain pens for air travel? I have really prefer fountain pens but have heard because of the pressure changes they can leak a lot and to avoid traveling with them.

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

I've heard about people having trouble with them, but I never really had. I have them vertical upright in a bag, in a pen holder, and never had issues. Only had issues with some models that "always leak" like the Hemingway. Others, I heard, empty the pens for travel and I guess that is a safe way (and then bring an ink bottle). But really, ask a fountain pen repair store, they must know what is right and wrong on this issue.

[@curiouslizard]

@@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard I’ve been flying with fountain pens for years. It helps to keep them full when you fly so there is minimal air gap, thus smaller pressure change at altitude. Also as you say, generally store them nib up although I write with my pens on planes all the time. I enjoy my MB 149, Agatha Christie and travel with a Visconti traveling ink well. Thank you for a terrific ink pen and paper video!

[@paulrwallace]

I have traveled with fountain pens on planes since the 1980s. My first pen, a Parker 51, always leaked a little but it was easy to clean up with a tissue or two. Still, a nuisance if you don't think first and uncap it to write a quick note on arrival, and notice your fingers full of ink! Now I travel with a Platinum 3776 pen that has a cap designed with what they call the "slip and seal" mechanism, designed to keep the ink from drying out. I notice that this eliminates any ink leaking issues when flying.

[@Mrsdls77]

Photography and fountain pens are my passions- no Leicas nor Montblancs for me though

[@vinylisland6386]

Is that Evris at 00.53?

[@burneshollyman2621]

You need to discover the wonderful world of Japanese notebooks (especially on Tomoe Paper). They are the highest quality paper. Moleskins suck and fall apart. Leuchtturm1917 is infinitely better. And of course Rhoda and Clairefontaine. Love this video! I am a fountain pen and notebook junkie.

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Unaware of Tomoe but ordered a few different blank sheets, notebooks w lines, etc now.

[@thomasboesgaard]

I'm surprised you don't use Smythsom notebooks :-)

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Never heard of them, I think. Might have seen them. Will check them out when I go to London in October.

[@ivanp_personal]

10:09 Is it Bjarne Stroustroup on the photo??

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

No, it's a French guy having a meeting in Paris

[@antonykyriacou8300]

Interesting 🤔.

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Thank you 🙂

[@neilharding6092]

Fountain pens and notepads, what's not to like.

[@ricardolazzari8010]

Is it just me? It really bothers me when notebooks are thrown like that…

[@jorschachblatant1934]

I really like you and your work. So I waited 10 minutes for you to get to the point. There was no point. I appreciate that you spend your time with us. This is not working. Thank you for your guidance on other things.

[@MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard]

Knowing when to quit is the trick. Not all I do, everybody likes.